On April 30, as part of National Poetry Month, Stockton Poet Laureate Jazmarie LaTour hosted the Healing Our Ancestors poetry event at Atherton auditorium at Delta College.
This was an open mic event for students to have the space to connect with their ancestors and express their ethnic backgrounds through poetry, to acknowledge and spiritually heal with their ancestors. The event was set up after Delta’s Puente counselor, Daniel Fernandez, reached out to LaTour.
“I didn’t know what the event was going to be about,” said LaTour. “I connected with Delta’s English professor, Julie Jose, and she presented this with healing with your ancestral roots. I instantly was like, ‘Yes, this is for me.’ I was so excited.”
Before the event, students had an open mic opportunity to sign up online and in person. The sign-in sheet was at the entrance of the Atherton Auditorium. A group of 23 students got to read their poetry on stage.
The emcee and co-host organizer, Delta student Lishe’a Wilkerson, also known as Queen Rajah. When planning the event, they had to improvise with the schedule.
“We didn’t know exactly what to do,” said Queen Rajah. “I figured we did an introduction, have Jazzy do some reading, let the students read, have Jazzy read again. Students were coming in late but we wanted everyone to have an opportunity to read their poetry.”
Even though students were coming in late to present on stage, the hosts wanted the students’ voices to be heard. The event started at 12 p.m. and ended on schedule at 2 p.m.
In July 2023, Stockton city council members nominated LaTour to be Stockton’s poet laureate. In this two-year term, her goal is to promote literacy and poetry within the community.
“I would love to make this an annual thing,” said LaTour. “If Delta will have me again, I would love to come back.”
